Giles Bedloe and Francesca Kolar secure Attempted Murder convictions following Old Bailey trial

Following a six-week trial at the Old Bailey, three defendants from the Turkish Kurdish community in North London were unanimously convicted of attempted murder and causing grievous bodily harm with intent. The defendants carried out a violent attack on two victims from a rival family within the same community. The defendants repeatedly stabbed the victims with knives, leaving one victim with life-threatening injuries.

The ill feeling between the two families had been fuelled by inflammatory social media posts. The defendants’ attack, carried out on the streets of Edmonton on 13 May 2024, was understood to be retaliation for an earlier assault a month before in Dortmund, Germany, when a member of the defendants’ family was attacked by the victim’s family.

The case turned on extensive CCTV and social media analysis, together with international disclosure obtained from Germany. Each of the three defendants was sentenced to 25 years’ imprisonment.